6/10/2013 - Dads taking on position typically occupied by moms

While dads still assume the role of the primary income earner, recent analysis indicates that an increasing number of fathers are taking on the homemaker position while moms head off to the office.

Researchers from Boston College developed the report "The New Dad: Right at Home," which details how more men who are parents to children are staying at home and tending to the needs of a household that, for the most part, mothers have taken care of historically. For instance, based on the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 1.6% of dads were stay-at-home in 2001. But that rate has since jumped to about 3.4% as of 2011.

While there are a variety of reasons more dads today are serving as full-time homemakers, one of the most common relates back to what they had done for a career previously. Researchers discovered that based on their sample of about 36 dads, their circumstances had prompted them to take alternative measures, due to being laid off from their position or the hours in which they worked were too onerous to juggle with family responsibilities.

"Men today are now reporting higher levels of work-family conflict than women are," Stephanie Coontz, a family studies professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington, told National Public Radio. Coontz helped contribute to the report. She added that polls suggest a number of women today are as likely as men to desire a career outside the home.

When young children become full-grown, at-home dads may want to expand their role by starting a business that they can operate out of their residence. Before that's done, however, it's important to ensure that the company is covered through a businessowner's policy, as traditional homeowners insurance may not be enough.